What are you reading in general?

Post by **Shaun das Schaf** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:31 am

Three Bags Full, Leonie Swann. It's a sheep detective story. My last read - see above: Oyster, JTH - was much darker than I expected*, so I'm talking a light-heated break with some anthropomorphized animals. Actually some German friends recommended it, knowing I like sheep. They also sent me a sheep egg warmer (Schaf-Eierwarmer) for Christmas which was very sweet of them but it creeps me out a little bit!

*Has anyone else read Oyster?

ETA: I'm 'taking' a light-'hearted' break. Damn that festive season aphasia!

Post by **aliantha** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 4:13 am

I saw on Goodreads that you were reading it, Shaun, but I haven't read it myself.

Post by **Holsety** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 6:26 am

Shaun das Schaf wrote:Three Bags Full, Leonie Swann. It's a sheep detective story. My last read - see above: Oyster, JTH - was much darker than I expected*, so I'm talking a light-heated break with some anthropomorphized animals. Actually some German friends recommended it, knowing I like sheep. They also sent me a sheep egg warmer (Schaf-Eierwarmer) for Christmas which was very sweet of them but it creeps me out a little bit!

*Has anyone else read Oyster?

Just wanted to note, since I ran into a mention of it, that I actually listened to 3 Bags Full as an audio book some time ago. For me, it was, well, immensely enjoyable, as you might imagine the sheep lend themselves to delightful voice acting. Because of that, while I agree it was darker than I expected, I may have missed much of a...real..."umph" to the book in favor of my warm enjoyment of the wooly particulars.

Also, I have probably listened to less audio books than years in my life, so it was good that this one (IMO) was well done.

Mopple "The Whale" (?) was certainly my favorite of the sheep.

Post by **Shaun das Schaf** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:46 am

Hi Holsety, yes I imagine it'd make a very entertaining audio book, and though I'm not far into it, I'm already enjoying it. Don't know who my favorite woolly character is yet.

As for darkness, I was actually referring to Janette Turner Hospital's Oyster, the book I read before Three Bags Full and the reason I needed to escape into some sheep crime fun!

Post by **Frostheart Grueburn** » Sun Jan 06, 2013 5:06 pm

Oy, Shaun, who are you on Goodreads? Please do not be sheepish about it.

</the lamest, most insipid pun of the year>

Post by **Shaun das Schaf** » Sun Jan 06, 2013 11:40 pm

Hi Cool Frosty, I'm Kim Leach.
Friend me.

Post by **Orlion** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 4:25 am

Shaun das Schaf wrote:Hi Cool Frosty, I'm Kim Leach.
Friend me.

Watch out for the Tyger!

Post by **Shaun das Schaf** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 7:42 am

Wish you told me that before I let him in the house

Great pic btw.

Post by **Frostheart Grueburn** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 7:57 am

Baah, found you!

Post by **sgt.null** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 8:06 am

if i ever finsih the Dome i will be reading the KW's book club selection. also have Gravity's Rainbow ready to go.

Post by **Shaun das Schaf** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:36 am

Frostheart wrote:Baah, found you!

Excellent effort! Friendship request gladly accepted.

Sarge, I'm reading Seized too, but I wasn't going to say anything in case I didn't finish it in time and because this month's chockers at work and I didn't know how much time I'd have for input. And also, honestly, what if I didn't like it?!

Well, I'm already 28% in, I do like it and I look forward to discussing it with the bookclub. And now that my secret mission is not so secret, I may as well put it in goodreads where I'm friends with the author.

By the way aliantha, I was helping someone with their amazon account/kindle today, we needed to test-buy a book, you can guess what we bought.

Post by **I'm Murrin** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 3:15 pm

I'm reading David L Ulin's The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time. It's an extended essay on, well, what the title says. Interesting so far.

Post by **Holsety** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:56 am

Now rereading Peace. It is almost painful - I mean, I am regularly getting headaches - to read this particular sort of Faulknerian-like southern story of a man who is ostensibly traveling and editing his own memories to (simultaneously) re-idealize himself, and deal with the onset of a stroke. Ya, it's not the first "memory book" I've read, and certainly not the first one by Wolfe, either, but I suppose the american setting is decent at provoking a great influx of memories, and stories and chats and the like from others about their memories. Quite aggravating, quite rewarding, the wisdom passes through like a sieve and not a drop remains but a minute or two after setting it down, yet it seems to adequately return for each new session.

But, I'm not in the condition right now to receive the story truly as a novel, worthy of an attempt at independent analysis, rather than as a conversation piece for facilitating conversations with myself (which was not the intention when I started, but I'll get this one done). It is probably stuck up of me to fool myself into thinking I mimic the narrator of the book inevitably rather than as a result of my own fancy (this would be a theme of the book, incidentally), but it certainly feels inevitable.

Post by **Avatar** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 6:15 am

Just read Carl Hiaasen's Nature Girl. His books are always a fun read.

--A

Post by **Avatar** » Tue Jan 15, 2013 4:52 am

Roddy Doyle's Barrytown trilogy, starting with The Commitments.

--A

Post by **Avatar** » Wed Jan 16, 2013 5:08 am

Read The Snapper yesterday, now I'm on The Van. Definitely the best of the three I think.

Was a bit disappointed by The Commitments. Actually think the film was better, and that's a very rare thing.

--A

Post by **aliantha** » Wed Jan 16, 2013 4:24 pm

Shaun das Schaf wrote:By the way aliantha, I was helping someone with their amazon account/kindle today, we needed to test-buy a book, you can guess what we bought.

You're my new best friend!

Over the holidays, when Magickmaker was sometimes stuck in the Nook department at work, she would load Seized onto the display models.

No idea whether I ever made a sale from it, but I appreciated the effort anyhow.

Post by **I'm Murrin** » Mon Jan 21, 2013 4:57 pm

Yesterday I read Mark Z Danielewski's The Fifty Year Sword. Very short book, but beautifully put together; every Danielewski book is an artifact, a piece of art in its own way.

Post by **deer of the dawn** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 3:09 pm

Shaun das Schaf wrote: They also sent me a sheep egg warmer (Schaf-Eierwarmer) for Christmas which was very sweet of them but it creeps me out a little bit!

So why would you need to warm sheep eggs? *ducks yarn bombs*

Nearly finished aliantha's Seized, can't wait for February's KW Book Club discussion. Reading And the Lamb Wins (Simon Pononsby), a book about Revelation. I have a fascinating- looking paperback my sister sent me called Halderwood, it's either that next or Left to Tell, a book by a Rwandan woman; trying to not finish The Wool Omnibus because that's on deck next for the KW Book Club and I don't want to finish it too early, and when will I get to Game of Thrones??? Not to mention the Grand Reread, 2nd Chrons!!

So many books, so little time!!!!!!!!!

[/i]

Post by **Avatar** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:58 am

So I'm reading Bernarfd Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles, his take on the Arthurian legends.

I'm not very far into book 1 yet, The Winter King, but so far it's not grabbing me like his other historical series have done.

The concept is similar to that of the (newer and on-going) Saxon stories, and old man chronicling the events of his youth. But so far, this hasn't impressed the same way.

Still, early days yet. Will let you know how much it improves.

--A

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

What are you reading in general?